So sad...

My heart goes out to all the West Virginia families who lost loved ones in the Sago mine explosion this week. Prayers for coping, hope and peace go out to the entire community.

I am a coal miner's grandaughter. Born and raised in the coal country of southwest Virginia, I grew up knowing next to nothing of the mines and their influence on my family and community. One grandfather was retired from the mines with black lung. The other had died from a heart attack before I was even born. He, too, had lived with black lung. The mines didn't affect me directly, so I just didn't really care to understand them. It was not until after college when I moved away from the area that I became interested in learning more about the place I'd always called home.

My interest was piqued by a novel by West Virginia author Denise Giardina. "Storming Heaven" is a powerfully and beautifully written novel about the unionizing of the coal mines of Kentucky and West Virginia in the early 20th century. I fell in love with the people in this book, with their love of the family and land and their fight for justice against the coal companies who forced them to work, cheated them out of their pay, and held them virtually hostage on their own land. This novel fed a fire in me that I never knew burned. After reading it, I couldn't learn enough about my heritage.

I followed up this novel with Giardina's sequel, "The Unquiet Earth" and then the movie "Matewan" about labor wars among West Virginia coal miners during the 1920's. I went on to write a feature story for my regional newspaper's Lifestyle section about a retired Virginia miner's dream to turn a tiny defunct Virginia coal town into a tourist attraction. To this day, his dream hasn't come true, but the time I spent with him touring his town, meeting the wonderful people, and soaking up my history has changed me forever. I will never let go of my roots. I will forever be a mountain girl with a proud history that has helped weave the fabric of workers' rights across this country.

And so, while I know nobody from this small West Virginia town where 11 families are grieving after an unforgettable tragedy, my heart is breaking for them. Truly, we are all brothers and sisters to some extent. I feel close to them tonight, and I will keep them in my prayers.